The spark plug ejected from my engine and cylinder head. And apparently this is a common issue with ford truck engines. Seems to me it should be a defect or a recall. That should not happen it could be dangerous. I thought my vehicles engine had exploded. And the cost of this could be outrageous.
2003 Ford F-150 engine complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 97, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Spark plug 2nd closest to the passenger blew out.
Was driving along at 35 MPH going straight on a city street. A spark plug was ejected from the engine head. This could create a fire hazard.
Vehicle caught on fire while parked in driveway. Had not been run in over a week. Completely burned up and caused damaged home. Vehicle burned had several explosions and burned at a high temp until it was extinguished by fire fighters.
Driving up a hill at highway speed I heard a loud bang and a clunk and the truck started shaking. I was quite startled. I pulled over immediately, shut it off, and found the spark plug had ejected from cylinder number 6. Not being far from home, I attempted to drive it the rest of the way on less busy roads, but I had to pull over again when I started smelling a strong gasoline smell. I was able to disconnect the fuel injector and drive it the rest of the way home, but I feel there was a danger of an accident when the incident happened due to the sudden loss of power in traffic on a hill, and then a danger of a fire when I had tried to continue driving it with the fuel injector active.
Second time same spark plug housing has failed to hold spark plug and ejected it from engine along with raw fuel almost igniting engine compartment.
While driving my truck with my wife & son, we heard a loud pop, like a gun shot, then my truck started to run real rough, I found a coil, & a spark plug had been blown out of the engine, because of the fuel build up & the spark from the truck still running we are lucky that the truck did not catch fire.
Driving down highway and exiting onto my exit, the truck started to run rough and eventually shut off. I had to wait about 1hour for the truck to cool off before it would start again. While waiting for the truck to cool off, I changed the fuel filter. Today, 6/3/15, I can start the truck up and let it run for about a half an hour and shut it off and it will not start back. I wait another half an hour and it will start right up. I can't effort to take it to the shop and pay $50 to $100 for them not to be able to tell me what is wrong or how to fix it.
As we started the truck, we heard a loud pop and then the engine was running rough. I could smell gas burning not in a good way, so we turned off the engine and popped the hood. There was gasoline running under the truck, and gasoline coming from the exhaust. A passerby informed us that the f-150 with triton engine is notorious for blowing spark plugs and proceeded to point out which spark plug had blown. I researched this issue when I arrived home after our truck was towed to a mechanic, and discovered that just about every f-150 owner goes through this. Why is this not a defect that ford is being required to fix? Do people have to die before a defective part is taken care of?
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. While driving at approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal noise. The accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle would not accelerate. The check engine warning indicator illuminated. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence where an independent mechanic diagnosed that the spark plug detached and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 148,000.
A spark plug blew out, another plug blew out 3 days later. It cost almost $2000 to fix and there is no guarantee that the rest won't blow out.
Another cracked passenger side manifold on regularly serviced vehicle. Ford motor company should issue recall or provide "goodwill" based on the number of failed components being reported by ford owners.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. The contact stated that exhaust fumes were present inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the manifold was leaking. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
My 2003, ford f-150 blew a spark plug for the fourth time yesterday. Each time a different plug. I was heading to church and "pop". We were just getting on the on ramp when it happen. Four time now and each time I have to pay to get it fixed. Right now I can't afford to fix it and it's sitting in my yard...
While driving at 65 - 70 MPH on I-95, the spark plug on the #2 cylinder blew out. #2 cylinder is 2nd plug from front of engine on the passenger side. Loud noise and lost power.
My family and I were sitting in a drive through picking up a pizza. Can we went to pull forward and it started looking really bad .. Did some research and felt all the plugs and found that number four plug blew out of the head! It cost us 500 for fix and now another one is starting to go!!
As I was driving home, my engine began making a loud noise & running badly. Upon inspection of the motor, I found the spark plug had blown out of the #3 cylinder, breaking the coil pack in the process. I do not believe this is a normal occurrence. I have checked on-line to see if this has happened to other f-150 owners, and found out it is fairly common. What can be done to get ford to help with this problem?
2003 ford f150. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle brake issues. *smd the consumer stated when he came to a stop, with his foot on the brake, the vehicle rolled forward. The dealer replaced the hydraulic control unit. Also, the exhaust manifold was cracked.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, she heard a loud explosion from under the hood. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis where the technician stated that the spark plug detached from the coil and would have to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 133,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, he heard a vibrating noise from beneath the vehicle. Upon further inspection, he noticed that a clamp holding the exhaust system had rusted and had became partially detached. The contact personally replaced the clamp. The failure and current mileage was 135,000.
On a return trip from columbus ohio to new orleans la, a spark plug ejected from #3 cylinder, passenger side second from the front. Engine stalled but was able to be restarted. Smell of fuel was very prevalent. No other apparent damage to any other systems on the engine. Plug was the original factory installed plug and had not been touched by any mechanic since the truck was new. Brought to the dealer. After a $700 repair bill, they tried a helicoil, but this failed after just 1 use of the truck on the highway. . A $28,000 truck should be able to keep its spark plugs in the heads.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f150. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the spark plug was blown on the number four cylinder. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic, who replaced the spark plugs at a cost to the contact. The failure recurred after the repairs. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where the contact was awaiting a second spark plug replacement. The manufacturer was contacted and advised that there was no failure, offering no assistance. The failure mileage was 140,000.
Spark plug ejected from the cylinder upon routine vehicle starting. Vehicle was warm when started. Once the spark plug ejected I noticed the smell of gasoline and smoke. A small fire was easily extinguished however could have been severe.
Spark plug blew out of the aluminum head of the engine, which I hear is a common problem. When is the recall coming out? If this is a wide spread problem, I personaly know of two other people whom this has happened too and its all over the internet, then ford needs to take some initiative and fix it! We consumers are what makes ford their money and if this is not fixed for us I will no longer be a ford consumer. I am sure others feel the same way. Ford made a mistake, we all do, now fix it.
I started up my truck on lunch and heard a bang than it sounded like a popcorn machine I call ford in londonderry nh to see what was wrong and they told me it was the spark plug coming out of the heads, they was common im not the only one this happened to friend had 7 out of 8 spark plugs shoot out for his f 250. And for the sounds of it there has been alot more!! I cant believe that ford hasn't had a recall on this problem. People could get hurt if it started a fire under a hood.
Spark plug blown out of the cylinder head. This is the 5th separate cylinder this has happened to in the 3 years I have owned this truck.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. The contact stated that a spark plug failed, causing gasoline to blow into the engine. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was advised that the number one spark plug had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 76,000.
Strap holding my gas tank on my 2003 ford 150 rusted thru and broke it was noticed by one of my fellow employees fortunately before the other strap broke. I went to the ford dealer in my area and had it repaired asking if there was a recall or reported problems with this and they said no. I was charged $195 to repair it.
I bought a 2003 ford f150 with a 4.6l triton v8 engine , while driving it started making a popping noise, like a mini backfire. I took it to an auto repair shop, and they found the coil pack on the #3 cylinder was melted. They replaced the coil pack, and we drove down the road to test drive the truck, within 2 miles the popping noise returned, but even louder this time. We got it limped back to the shop, and had to let it cool down overnight, so the mechanic could investigate the problem. He had a time getting the melted "brand new" coil pack out of the spark plug recess in the engine head, and an equally difficult time getting the spark plug itself out of the hole. Apparently the plug had come loose in the short threaded aluminum head, then the coil pack melted around the plug sealing it in place , and the engine burnt a hole the size of a pencil right through the aluminum head next to the spark plug hole. The coil pack was still putting out spark, but not to the plug, as the boot that held it on the plug was gone, it was just sparking against the sides of the recess in the head. The mechanic said it was lucky not to have either caught fire or blown up, I guess that is lucky, but at the same time not so nice for me with the repairs starting at $2600 to replace the heads on the same engine, or put in a used engine if we can find one for $3900, or put in a remanufactured engine for $5200, that has supposedly has addressed the issue with these ford engines blowing out spark plugs. Ford says there isn't an issue, but they've created a fix for the problem that doesn't exist?? What to do now with my worthless pile of metal sitting in my driveway , I can't afford to fix? Built ford tough ?? After doing some research on the internet, simply google "ford triton spark plug blowout" , and you'll find there are thousands and thousands of folks like me dealing with this issue , and ford continues to deny it's a problem, why?
The vehicle began accelerating on its own (> 75 MPH). Cruise control was not on. The break was effective at mitigating increasing speed until the vehicle could be stopped safely on the side of hwy 85s. Distance traveled with uncontrollable acceleration was approximately 2.5 miles. Prior to stopping and turning the engine off, an attempt to put the engine in neutral while speeding was fruitless -- the engine raced to maximum RPM when put in neutral. For fear I would blow the engine, I put the transmission back into "drive" and continued tamping on my breaks to control my speed. Heavy breaking was utilized once I was in safe place to pull off the road and turn off the engine. I attempted to re-start the engine multiple times, each time with the same result - - the engine red-lined at maximum rpms. I contacted aaa for roadside service. The truck was towed to a raleigh ford dealer. The ford dealer started the vehicle and the engine red-lined at maximum rpms. They turned the engine off and inspected the engine. They found a plastic cover for the throttle assembly had come loose and lodged itself in such a way as to put tension on the throttle cable/lever. A safety clip that holds the cover in place was missing. They re-secured the cover with a different type of safety connector, and then re-started the vehicle. The vehicle's engine was normal. The ford dealer representative indicated he had seen this before on a mustang, but not of f-150. The ford dealer representative tried to down-play the significance of the incident -- as if it was "no big deal". They did not open a service work order to document the issue or repair. The told me there was "no charge" for the service.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2003 Ford F-150?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history